Saxe-Lauenburg

The Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg (German: Herzogtum Sachsen-Lauenburg, called Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) between the 14th and 17th centuries), was a reichsfreiduchy that existed 1296–1803 and 1814–1876 in the extreme southeast region of what is now Schleswig-Holstein. Its territorial center was in the modern district of Herzogtum Lauenburg and originally its eponymous capital was Lauenburg upon Elbe, though in 1619 the capital moved to Ratzeburg.

Saxe-Lauenburg ca. 1400 (green), including the tracts south of the Elbe and the Amt Neuhaus, but without Hadeln out of the map downstream the Elbe.

Former territories not part of today's district of Lauenburg

In addition to the core territories in the modern district of Lauenburg, at times other territories, mostly south of the river Elbe, belonged to the duchy:

The tract of land along the southern Elbe bank (German: Marschvogtei), reaching from Marschacht to the Amt Neuhaus, territorially connecting the core of the duchy with these more southeastern Lauenburgian areas. This land was ceded to the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814. It is now part of the Lower SaxonHarburg (district).

The Amt Neuhaus proper, then including areas on both sides of the Elbe, which was ceded to the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814. Today, this is all part of Lower Saxon Lüneburg (district).

The exclaveLand of Hadeln in the area of the Elbe estuary was disentangled from Saxe-Lauenburg in 1689 and administered as a separate territory under imperial custody, before it was ceded to Bremen-Verden in 1731. Now it is part of today's Lower Saxon Cuxhaven (district).

History

The coat of arms of Saxe-Lauenburg as fixed by Duke Julius Francis and confirmed by Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1671. First quarter: the Ascanianbarry of ten sable and Or, covered by a crancelin of rue bendwise in vert.[1] Second quarter: azure, an eagle crowned Or. Third quarter: argent, three water lily leaves gules. Fourth quarter: on a divided field of sable and argent, the electoral swords (German: Kurschwerter) gules, representing the Saxon office as Imperial Arch-Marshal (German: Erzmarschall, Latin: Archimarescallus), pertaining to Saxon privilege as Prince-elector, besides the right to elect the new emperor after the decease of the former. Saxe-Lauenburg always claimed the privilege, but could not prevail after 1356.

Early history

In 1203, King Valdemar II of Denmark conquered the area later comprising Saxe-Lauenburg, but it reverted to Albert I, Duke of Saxony in 1227.[2] In 1260, Albert I's sons Albert II and John I succeeded their father.[2] In 1269, 1272 and 1282, the brothers gradually divided their governing competences within the three territorially unconnected Saxon areas along the Elbe river (one called Land of Hadeln, another around Lauenburg upon Elbe and the third around Wittenberg upon Elbe), thus preparing a partition.

After John I's resignation, Albert II ruled with his minor nephews Albert III, Eric I and John II, who by 1296 definitely partitioned Saxony providing Saxe-Lauenburg for the brothers, and Saxe-Wittenberg for their uncle Albert II. The last document, mentioning the brothers and their uncle Albert II as Saxon fellow dukes dates back to 1295.[3] A deed of 20 September 1296, mentions the Vierlande, Sadelbande (Land of Lauenburg), the Land of Ratzeburg, the Land of Darzing (later Amt Neuhaus), and the Land of Hadeln as the separate territory of the brothers.[3]

Bergedorf Castle in Bergedorf, former seat of the Lauenburg Elder Line

By 1303, the three jointly ruling brothers had partitioned Saxe-Lauenburg into three shares, however, Albert III died already in 1308, so that the surviving brothers established, after a territorial realignment in 1321, the Lauenburg Elder Line, with John II ruling Saxe-Bergedorf-Mölln, seated in Bergedorf and the Lauenburg Younger Line, with Eric I ruling Saxe-Ratzeburg-Lauenburg, seated in Lauenburg upon Elbe. John II, the eldest brother, wielded the electoral privilege for the Lauenburg Ascanians, however, rivalled by their cousin Rudolph I of Saxe-Wittenberg.

Frederick the Fair received in the same election four of the seven votes, with the deposed King-Elector Henry of Bohemia, illegitimately assuming electoral power, Archbishop-Elector Henry II of Cologne, Louis's brother Prince-Elector Rudolph I of the Electorate of the Palatinate, and Duke Rudolph I of Saxe-Wittenberg, rivallingly claiming the Saxon prince-electoral power. However, only Louis the Bavarian finally asserted himself as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The Golden Bull of 1356, however, conclusively named the dukes of Saxe-Wittenberg as electors.

The city of Lübeck and Eric III had stipulated that, upon his death, Lübeck would be entitled to take possession of the pawned areas until his successors repaid the credit and simultaneously exercised the repurchase of Mölln (contracted in 1359), altogether amounting to the then enormous sum of 26,000 Lübeck Marks.[5]

In 1401, Eric III died without issue. The Lauenburg Elder Line was thus extinct in the male line and Eric III was succeeded by his second cousin Eric IV of Saxe-Ratzeburg-Lauenburg of the Younger Line. In the same year, Eric IV, supported by his sons Eric (later ruling as Eric V) and John, forcefully captured the pawned areas without making any repayment, before Lübeck could take possession of them. Lübeck acquiesced for the time being.[6]

Treaty of Perleberg, 1420

In 1420, Eric V attacked Prince-Elector Frederick I of Brandenburg and Lübeck allied with Hamburg in support of Brandenburg. Armies of both cities opened a second front and conquered Bergedorf, Riepenburg castle and the Esslingen river toll station (today's Zollenspieker Ferry). This forced Eric V to agree with Hamburg's burgomasterHein Hoyer and Burgomaster Jordan Pleskow of Lübeck to the Treaty of Perleberg on 23 August 1420, which stipulated that all the pawned areas, which Eric IV, Eric V and John IV had violently taken in 1401, were to be irrevocably ceded to the cities of Hamburg and Lübeck, becoming their bi-urban condominium of Bergedorf (Beiderstädtischer Besitz).

From the 14th century, Saxe-Lauenburg termed itself as Lower Saxony (German: Niedersachsen).[7] However, Saxony as a naming for the area comprising the older Duchy of Saxony in its borders before 1180 still prevailed. So, when in 1500 the Holy Roman Empire established the Imperial Circles as tax levying and army recruitment districts, the circle comprising Saxe-Lauenburg and all its neighbours became designated as Saxon Circle, while the Wettin-ruled Saxon electorate and duchies at that time formed the Upper Saxon Circle. The naming of Lower Saxony became more colloquial and the Saxon Circle was later renamed into Lower Saxon Circle. In 1659, Duke Julius Henry decreed in his general disposition (guidelines for his government) "to also esteem the woodlands as heart and dwell [of revenues] of the Principality of Lower Saxony."[8]

After the Reformation

The people of Hadeln, represented by their estates of the realm, adopted the LutheranReformation in 1525 and Duke Magnus I confirmed Hadeln's Lutheran Church Order in 1526, establishing Hadeln's separate ecclesiastical body existing until 1885.[9] Magnus did not promote the spreading of Lutheranism in the rest of his duchy.[10] Lutheran preachers, most likely from the southerly adjacent Principality of Lunenburg, Lutheran since 1529, held the first Lutheran preaches; at the northern entrance of St. Mary Magdalene Church in Lauenburg upon Elbe one is recalled for St John's Eve in 1531.[10] Tacitly, the congregations appointed Lutheran preachers so that the visitations of 1564 and 1566, ordered by Duke Francis I, Magnus I's son, on the instigation of the Ritter- und Landschaft, saw already Lutheran preachers in many parishes.[11] In 1566, Francis I appointed the Superintendent Franciscus Baringius as the first spiritual leader of the church in the duchy, not including Hadeln.[12]

Francis I conducted a thrifty reign and resigned in favour of his eldest son Magnus II once having exploited all his means in 1571. Magnus II promised to redeem the pawned ducal demesnes with funds he gained as a Swedish military commander and by his marriage to Princess Sophia of Sweden. However, Magnus did not redeem pawns but further alienated ducal possessions, which ignited a conflict between Magnus and his father and brothers Francis (II) and Maurice as well as the estates of the duchy, further escalating due to Magnus' violent temperament.

In 1573, Francis I deposed Magnus and reascended to the throne while Magnus fled to Sweden. The following year Magnus hired troops in order to take Saxe-Lauenburg with violence. Francis II, an experienced military commander in imperial service, and Duke Adolphus of Schleswig and Holstein at Gottorp, then Lower SaxonCircle Colonel (Kreisobrist), helped Francis I to defeat Magnus. In return Saxe-Lauenburg had to cede the bailiwick of Steinhorst to Gottorp in 1575. Francis II again helped his father to inhibit Magnus' second military attempt to overthrow his father in 1578.[13] Francis I then made Francis II his vicegerent actually governing the duchy.

Lauenburg Castle in Lauenburg upon Elbe by the end of the 16th century, till its destruction in 1616 seat of the Lauenburg Younger Line.

In 1581 - shortly before he died and after consultations with his son Prince-Archbishop Henry of Bremen and Emperor Rudolph II, but unconcerted with his other sons Magnus and Maurice - Francis I made his third son Francis II, whom he considered the ablest, his sole successor, violating the rules of primogeniture.[14] This severed the anyway difficult relations with the estates of the duchy, which fought the ducal practice of growing indebtedness.[14]

The general church visitation of 1581, prompted by Francis II, showed poor results as to the knowledge, practice and behaviour of many pastors.[15] Baringius was held responsible for these grievances and replaced by Gerhard Sagittarius in 1582.[16] Finally in 1585, after consultations with his brother Prince-Archbishop Henry, Francis II decreed a constitution (Niedersächsische Kirchenordnung; Lower Saxon Church Order), authored by Lübeck's Superintendent Andreas Pouchenius the Elder, for the Lutheran church of Saxe-Lauenburg.[17] It constituted the Lutheran state church of Saxe-Lauenburg, with general superintendent (as of 1592) and consistory seated in the city of Lauenburg, which merged into that of Schleswig Holstein in 1877. Francis II's attempt to merge Hadeln's Lutheran church body with that in the rest of the duchy was unanimously rejected by Hadeln's clergy and estates in 1585 and 1586.[18]

The violation of the primogeniture, however, gave grounds for the estates to perceive the upcoming duke Francis II as illegitimate. This forced him into negotiations, which ended on 16 December 1585 with the constitutional act of the "Eternal Union" (German: Ewige Union) of the representatives of Saxe-Lauenburg's nobility (Ritterschaft, i.e. knighthood) and other subjects (Landschaft), mostly from the cities, Lauenburg upon Elbe and Ratzeburg, then altogether constituted as the estates of the duchy (Ritter- und Landschaft), led by the Land Marshall, a hereditary office held by the family von Bülow. Francis II accepted their establishment as a permanent institution with a crucial say in government matters. In return Ritter- und Landschaft accepted Francis II as legitimate and rendered him homage as duke in 1586.

The relations between Ritter- und Landschaft and duke improved since Francis II redeemed ducal pawns with money he had earned as imperial commander.[19] After the residential castle in Lauenburg upon Elbe (started in 1180–1182 by Duke Bernard I) had burnt down in 1616, Francis II moved the capital to Neuhaus upon Elbe.[20]

View of Ratzeburg, 1590, with the castle in the foreground.

In 1619 Duke Augustus moved Saxe-Lauenburg's capital from Neuhaus upon Elbe to Ratzeburg, where it remained since.[20] During the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) Augustus always remained neutral, however, billeting and alimenting foreign troops marching through posed a heavy burden onto the ducal subjects.[19] Augustus was succeeded by his elder half-brother Julius Henry in 1656. He had converted from Lutheranism to Catholicism in expectation of becoming appointed Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück in 1615, but guaranteed to leave the Lutheran state church and the Lower Saxon Church Order untouched.[21]

He confirmed the existing privileges of the nobility and the Ritter- und Landschaft. In 1658 he forbade his vassals to pledge or else alienate fiefs, thus fighting the integration of manor estates in Saxe-Lauenburg into the monetary economies of the neighbouring economically powerful Hanseatic cities of Hamburg and Lübeck. He entered with both city-states into frontier disputes on manor estates which were in the process of evading Saxe-Lauenburgian overlordship into the competence of the city-states.

There were at least eight monarchies claiming the succession,[2] resulting in a conflict involving further the neighbouring duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and of Danish Holstein, as well as the five Ascanian-ruled Principalities of Anhalt, the Electorate of Saxony, which had succeeded the Saxe-Wittenbergian Ascanians in 1422, Sweden and Brandenburg. Militarily engaged were Celle and Danish Holstein, which agreed on 9 October 1693 (Hamburger Vergleich), that Celle anyway de facto holding most of Saxe-Lauenburg would retain the duchy, while the fortress in Ratzeburg, fortified under Celle rule and directed against Holstein, would be razed. In return Danish Holstein, which had invaded Ratzeburg and ruined the fortress, would withdraw its troops.

George William compensated John George III, Elector of Saxony, for his claim by a substantial sum of money, since the ancestors of both these princes had made treaties of mutual succession with former dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg.[2] The Ritter- und Landschaft then rendered homage to George William as their duke.[2] On 15 September 1702 George William confirmed the existing constitution, laws and legislative bodies of Saxe-Lauenburg.[22] On 17 May 1705 the Lutheran superintendency was moved from Lauenburg to Ratzeburg and combined with the pastorate of St. Peter's Church.[23] When he died on 28 August the same year Saxe-Lauenburg passed to his nephew, George I Louis, elector of Hanover, afterwards king of Great Britain as George I.[2] The Lower Saxon Lutheran Church maintained its Church Order with the consistory and General Superintendent Severin Walter Slüter (1646–1697) in Lauenburg, succeeded by incumbents titled again superintendent only.[24]

So Saxe-Lauenburg, except for Hadeln, passed to the House of Welf and its cadet branch House of Hanover, while the legal heirs, Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg and Sibylle Auguste of Saxe-Lauenburg, never waiving their claim, were dispossessed and the former exiled in BohemianPloskovice. Emperor Leopold I rejected Celle's succession and thus retained Hadeln, which was out of Celle's reach, in his custody. Only in 1728 his son Emperor Charles VI enfeoffed George II Augustus with Saxe-Lauenburg, finally legitimising the de facto takeover by his grandfather in 1689 and 1693.[2] On 27 August 1729 he confirmed Saxe-Lauenburg's existing constitution, laws and the Ritter- und Landschaft.[22] On 5 April 1757 the Niedersächsische Landschulordnung decreed the compulsory school attendance for all children in Saxe-Lauenburg.[25]George III ascended in 1760 and endorsed all the laws, the constitution and the Ritter- und Landschaft of Saxe-Lauenburg by a writ issued in St. James' Palace on 21 January 1765.[22] In 1794 George III donated annual rewards for the best teachers in Saxe-Lauenburg.[26]

Napoleonic era

Saxe-Lauenburg's coat of arms after 1866. These arms alter the Danish version, then featuring a golden horse head on red. Prussia added a borduregyronny in black and white, its official colours, and showed the horse head in silver.

The duchy was occupied by French troops in 1803–05,[2] after which the French occupational troops left in a campaign against Austria. Then British, Swedish and Russian Coalition forces captured Saxe-Lauenburg in autumn 1805 at the beginning of the War of the Third Coalition against France (1805–06). In December the Empire of the French, since 1804 France's new form of government, ceded Saxe-Lauenburg, which it no longer held, to Brandenburg-Prussia, which captured it early in 1806.

But when the Kingdom of Prussia (the name element Electorate of Brandenburg had turned void at the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire on 6 August 1806), after it had turned – as part of the Fourth Coalition – against France, was defeated in the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt (November 11, 1806), France recaptured Saxe-Lauenburg. In remained first under French occupation, before on 1 March 1810 most of it was annexed to the Kingdom of Westphalia, a French client state. A small area with 15,000 inhabitants remained reserved for Napoléon's purposes. On 1 January 1811, most of the former duchy – except for the Amt Neuhaus and the Marschvogtei, which remained with Westphalia – was annexed to the First French Empire.[2]

Post-Napoleon

After the Napoleonic Wars, Saxe-Lauenburg was restored as a Hanoverian dominium in 1813.[2] The Congress of Vienna established Saxe-Lauenburg as a member state of the German Confederation. In 1814 the Kingdom of Hanover bartered Saxe-Lauenburg against Prussian East Frisia. On 7 June 1815, after 14 months under its rule, the Prussia granted Saxe-Lauenburg to Sweden, receiving in return the former Swedish Pomerania, however, additionally paying 2.6 million Taler to Denmark, in order to compensate Denmark for the loss of Norway.[27]Denmark gained that ducal territory north of the Elbe, now ruled in personal union by the Danish House of Oldenburg,[2] from Sweden, which thus again compensated Danish claims to Swedish Pomerania. On 6 December 1815 Frederick VI of Denmark issued his Asseveration Act (Versicherungsacte) affirming the given laws, the constitution and the Ritter- und Landschaft of Saxe-Lauenburg.[22] In 1816 his administration took possession of the duchy.[2]

Dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg

House of Ascania (1296–1689)

The counting of the dukes includes the preceding Ascanian dukes Bernard I, his son Albert I, and the latter's jointly ruling sons John I and Albert II, all of which ruled the Saxon dukedom before its partition into Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg.

House of Welf (1689–1803)

For 113 years the duchy was ruled by members of the Welf dynasty. However, since its violent takeover only in 1728 Emperor Charles VI enfeoffed George II Augustus with Saxe-Lauenburg, finally legitimising the Welfs as dukes.

1727–60: George II Augustus; also King of Great Britain, Elector of Hanover, by title also Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg.

1760–1814: George III, de facto dispossessed in 1803–05 and 1805–14, however he held up the title of duke, rejecting any unilateral act and annexation by Napoléon. Only at the Congress of Vienna, where all sides agreed, the title of duke passed to his nephew. Also King of Great Britain (becoming King of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801), Elector of Hanover (becoming King of Hanover in 1814), by title also Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg.

In 1988 Prince Lennart von Saxe-Lauenburg died. He claimed the title in 1946 though was no relation of Otto von Bismarck. The claim initially was made in 1921 by his father Peter Johannes Borger van Ammerongen a Dutch nobleman. In the 1690s a court awarded the title to the House of Brunswick and Lunenburg–Celle when the last Duke died without male heirs. There was suspicion at the time that the Judge was bribed. Lennart was succeeded by a nephew.

^However, today's State of Germany named Lower Saxony comprises only small fringes of Lauenburgian Lower Saxon territory, to wit: its areas south of the river Elbe, such as:
i) the Land of Hadelnii) a tract of land along the southern Elbe bank, the Marschvogtei, connecting from Marschacht to the Amt Neuhausiii) the Amt Neuhaus.

^Francis' wife was Mary of Brunswick and Lunenburg (Wolfenbüttel) (1566-1626, daughter of Julius, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg (Wolfenbüttel)) and they had daughters Juliane of Saxe-Lauenburg (26 December 1589 - 1 December 1630, mar. 1 August 1627), married to Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Norburg, and Sophie Hedwig of Saxe-Lauenburg (24 May 1601 - 1 February 1660, mar. 23 May 1624) with Philipp, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

^He married three times: 1) Anne of Ostfriesland, 2) on 27 February 1628 Elisabeth Sophia of Brandenburg (13 July 1589–24 December 1629), daughter of John George, Elector of Brandenburg and mother of Duke Francis Erdmann, and 3) on 18 August 1632 Anna Magdalene, Baroness Popel von Lobkowitz (d. 7 September 1668), the only to ascend with him to the throne on 18 January 1656. She was mother of Duke Julius Francis.

Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg (13 June 1672 – 15 October 1741) was the legal Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg in the eyes of the Holy Roman Emperor, the overlord of Saxe-Lauenburg, from 1689 until 1728; however, because her distant cousin George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, conquered the duchy by force in 1689, she exercised no control over the territory, instead living in her manors in Bohemia.

She was Grand Duchess of Tuscany as the wife of the last Medici Grand Duke, Gian Gastone.

Anna Maria Franziska was the elder surviving daughter of Julius Franz, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, and Maria Hedwig of the Palatinate-Sulzbach. She married Philipp Wilhelm August of the Palatinate in 1690, with whom she had her only child, Maria Anna, in 1691. She was widowed in 1693. Four years later, she married Gian Gastone de' Medici, a Prince of Tuscany. With her brother-in-law Ferdinando de' Medici's death in 1713, her husband became Tuscany's heir-apparent. She became Grand Duchess of Tuscany upon the incumbent ruler's death in 1723. She was Grand Duchess for fourteen years before being widowed again in 1737.

Bernard II of Saxe-Lauenburg (German: Bernhard II.; ca. 1385/1392–16 July 1463) was a member of the House of Ascania and Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg from 1426 to 1463. His full title was Duke of Saxony, Angria and Westphalia, however only ruling the branch duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg between 1426 and 1463.

Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg (9 July 1511 – 7 October 1571) was queen consort of Denmark and Norway by marriage to King Christian III of Denmark. She was known to having wielded influence upon the affairs of state in Denmark.

Sibylle of Saxe-Lauenburg (Franziska Sibylle Auguste; 21 January 1675 – 10 July 1733) was Margravine of Baden-Baden. Born a Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg, she was the wife of Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden, a famous Imperial general who was known as the Türkenlouis. She acted as consort of the ruler of Baden-Baden (1690–1707) and then regent of Baden-Baden (1707–1727) for her son Louis George.

Elizabeth of Holstein-Rendsburg (c. 1300 – before 1340) was the regent of the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg during the minority of her son from 1321 until 1330. She was by two consecutive marriages, duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg and junior queen of Denmark.

Eric I of Saxe-Lauenburg (c.1280–1360) was a son of John I, Duke of Saxony, and Ingeborg Birgersdotter of Småland (*ca. 1253–30 June 1302*, Mölln), a daughter or grandchild of Birger jarl. He ruled Saxony jointly with his uncle Albert II and his brothers Albert III and John II, first fostered by Albert II, until coming of age. In 1296 Eric, his brothers and their uncle divided Saxony into Saxe-Wittenberg, ruled by Albert II, and Saxe-Lauenburg, jointly ruled by the brothers between 1296 and 1303 and thereafter partitioned among them. Eric then ruled the branch duchy of Saxe-Ratzeburg-Lauenburg until 1338.

Eric II of Saxe-Lauenburg (1318/1320 – 1368) was a son of Duke Eric I of Saxe-Lauenburg and Elisabeth of Pomerania (*1291–after 16 October 1349*), daughter of Bogislaw IV, Duke of Pomerania. Eric II succeeded his father, after his resignation in 1338, as duke of Saxe-Ratzeburg-Lauenburg, a branch duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg.

Eric II and his cousin Albert V of Saxe-Bergedorf-Mölln ravaged merchants and other travellers passing their duchies. In 1363 the city of Hamburg and Adolphus IX (aka VII) the Mild, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein-Kiel, supported by his relative Prince-Archbishop Albert II of Bremen, freed the streets northeast of the city from the brigandage by Eric II and Albert V, conquering the latter's castle in Bergedorf.

Francis I of Saxe-Lauenburg (1510 – 19 March 1581, Buxtehude) was the eldest child and only son of Duke Magnus I of Saxe-Lauenburg and Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1488 – 29 July 1563, Neuhaus), daughter of Duke Henry IV the Evil of Brunswick and Lunenburg (Wolfenbüttel). Francis I succeeded his father in 1543 as duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, but resigned in favour of his major son Magnus II in 1571. Two years later he reascended and was succeeded by Francis II in 1581.

Francis II of Saxe-Lauenburg (Ratzeburg, 10 August 1547 – 2 July 1619, Lauenburg upon Elbe), was the third son of Francis I of Saxe-Lauenburg and Sybille of Saxe-Freiberg (Freiberg, 2 May 1515 – 18 July 1592, Buxtehude), daughter of Duke Henry IV the Pious of Saxony. From 1581 on he ruled Saxe-Lauenburg as duke.

George William German: Georg Wilhelm (Herzberg am Harz, 26 January 1624 – 28 August 1705, Wienhausen) was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He ruled first over the Principality of Calenberg, a subdivision of the duchy, then over the Lüneburg subdivision. In 1689, he occupied the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg and passed it on to his successors. George William was the father of Sophia Dorothea of Celle, wife of George I of Great Britain.

John V of Saxe-Lauenburg (also numbered John IV; 18 July 1439 – 15 August 1507) was the eldest son of Duke Bernard II of Saxe-Lauenburg and Adelheid of Pomerania-Stolp (1410 – after 1445), daughter of Duke Bogislaus VIII of Pomerania-Stolp. He succeeded his father in 1463 as duke of Saxe-Lauenburg.

Julius Francis (16 September 1641 – 30 September 1689) was duke of Saxe-Lauenburg between 1666 and 1689. He was a son of Duke Julius Henry and his third wife Anna Magdalena of Lobkowicz (1606 – 1668), daughter of Baron William the Younger Popel of Lobkowicz. He was officially known as Julius Franz von Sachsen, Engern und Westfalen.

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